Takahe fly north to new home

By Christina McDonald

Created 09/11/12

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Two of nine takahe released on Motutapu Island, with representatives of iwi connected to Motutapu, Sophie Rose Nicholas and Stan Scott of Mitre 10, and Martin Genet of the Department of Conservation Takahe Recovery Programme based in Te Anau. Photo supplied.

Passengers aboard a Queenstown-to-Auckland flight on Sunday
shared the plane with nine of one of New Zealand's rarest
native birds - the takahe.

Only 260 of the native birds remain and on Sunday nine passed
through Queenstown before their release on a pest-free island
close to Auckland city.

The birds were taken by road in special transportation boxes
from the Burwood Bush Takahe Rearing Unit near Te Anau to the
Queenstown Airport where they boarded a flight to Auckland in
the hope of creating the largest Takahe population outside
Fiordland.

In Auckland the birds were driven to Devonport and carried
aboard a Department of Conservation boat for their final
journey to Motutapu Island, a half-hour ferry trip from
central Auckland.

Doc, partnered by Mitre 10, is working to secure the survival
of the bird and the latest release was hailed as a milestone.

Takahe were thought to be extinct until their rediscovery in
the Fiordland National Park in 1948 by Dr Geoffrey Orbell.

The closest relative to the flightless bird is the pukeko.

Up to three eggs are laid by the takahe in a breeding season
and are incubated by both parents.

Once the chicks hatch they remain with their parents for up
to two years.

Outside of human-encouraged takahe populations, the bird is
only found in the Murchison Mountains in Fiordland National
Park, although they have also been released on Kapiti, Mana,
Maud and Tiritiri Matangi - all pest-free islands.

Doc Takahe Recovery Programme manager Phil Tisch acknowledged
the funding from Mitre 10, saying without the partnership it
would not be possible to do the work.

"It's enabling us to take another big step forward in
building a safe future for takahe by building a new
population on Motutapu," Mr Tisch said